Curtain fixture



F11-ed May 21. 1930 J. Hl BoYE CURTAIN FIXTURE lin/Ueff U Jmes H Baye.

@@MYC/df @s March 17, 1931f the Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITEDN STATES YPATENT OFFICE BOYE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOISLASSIGNOR TO JAMES H. BOYE MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS CURTAIN FIXTURE Application mea May 21, 1930. serial No. 454,245.

This invention relates to curtain fixtures, having reference mainly to curtain supports known as the pull cord type, wherein mating right and left sections of the curtain or portire are suspended from a rod and are drawn together or apart at their upper ends by `a cord trained over guide pulleys or sheaves in or on the rod, said cord being attached to and operating a pair ot master hanger slid-es from which the upper ends of the inner marginal sections of the two curtains are suspended. The invention also has reference to an improved form of rod designed to aii'ord increased stiffness and rigidity, which is capable of application generally to any type of curtain fixture.

Among the objects of the invention are, to provide an improved form of curtain rod of hollov7 C-type affording increased strength and rigidity, to provide in association with such a rod, an improved system or arrangement of curtain suspending and operating devices wliich may be so mounted in the rod as to permit the curtains or portires to f be drawn apart approximately the full length of the rod and without any interference between the hanger slides and the cord guide sheaves and their carriers, to provide a rod of the type referred to which, where considerable length is required, may be made in sectionshaving a flush meeting joint or joints rigidly connect-ed by a snugly iitting internal splice, and wherein the presence of the splice presents no interference with the `tree running of the hanger slides;

Still other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the accompanyin'g drawings, in which I have illustrated one practical embodiment of the in-` i slides, including a pair of master slides to vention, and whereini Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the fixture showing the saine mounted on a window frame.V

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal longitudinal section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and broken out between its ends.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the rod,splice,`fand one` of the master hanger slides, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section through the rod and one of the follower hanger slides, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective elevation of one of the master hanger slides.

Fig. 6 is a perspective elevation of the splice employed in a sectional rod.

Fig. 7 is a perspective elevation of the sheave carrier and sheave located at the left hand end of the rod, in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 8 is a perspective elevation of the sheave carrier and sheave located at the right hand end of the rod, Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates each of a pair of straight hollow curtain rod sections that are supported at their outer ends on brackets 11 and `at their inner or meeting ends are rigidly connected and supported by an internal hollow splice 12, which construction permits the two sections 10 to be made of equalcross sectional sizes and to meet in a flush joint 13. The rod is of the Generally flat or C-type, but is modified by eing made of somewhat greater width, and the top and bottom walls of the rod are pressed inwardly in the form ot' hollow longitudinal ribs 14, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The purpose of these ribs is twofold. In the first place, they considerably increase the strength and rigidity of the rod and enable the latter to resist a downward bowing or bending tendency under the weight of the curtain or portire, and in the second place, they create in effect a double or twin channel rod consisting of` an outer or wider channel 15 and an inner or somewhat narrower channel 16. The rear wall of the rod has the usual central longitudinal slot of rods of the C-type, and in the rear channel 16 are mounted a group of curtain suspension which the inner upper corners of the curtains C are attached.

First describing the follower suspension slides, one of which appears in side elevation in Fig. 4, this slide comprises a roller 17 that travels in the bottom groove of the rear channel 16, the roller being of such diameter that its upper portion enters the upper groove of the channel 16 so that it is sustained laterally by the walls of said upper groove and thus maintained in a vertical position. integral with the roller 17 is a short lateral hub or boss 18 that eXtends through the slot in the rear side of the rodvbut is out of Contactl with the edges of'said slot, and on the outer end of the boss or hub 18 is a flange 19 of sufficient diametertooverlap the edges o f the slot. The* roller 16'Y and its b oss18 are Vfast on a central spindle 20,1w'vhich1 latter projects sufficiently beyond the boss 18 and its flange 19 to form a support for hanger arm 21 that is loosely mounted and suspended thereon, fthe lower end of the hanger arm being stitched or other- .wisesecured to the curtain C.' The purpose oftheaiige 19 isto prevent the hanger arm guiding' and supporting sheaves and theirl carriersv in the ends of the-rod, or withV the internal splice where` the.. latter is employed in a Vsectionallrod. Describing first the sheavecarrier and` sheave at the left hand endl of the rodthat supports and guides the intermediate portion ofthe cord, and refer-r ring particularly to Figs?, this comprisesa U-shaped sheave carrier, theparallel'flat side walls 22 of which are connected at their inner ends byvan integral bridge 23. ln and between the side walls 22 is journaled the sheavev21, and the outer end of one of the side-walls 22 is formed with a laterally bent stop ange 25; As shown inv Fig. 2, this sheavecarrierr and sheave is fitted into one end ofthe front channel 15 ofthe curtain rod, the vstop iiange25 abuttingagai'nst the end ofthefront wall of the rod, and thus holding the sheave carrier in place againstl the inward pullof the cord when the curtains are operated. Y

y The sheave carrier and sheave at the op posite or right handend of the redis shown in detail infl1 ig. 8 and also comprises a generallyy U-'shaped sheave carriergthe parallel flat side walls 26= ofV which kare Aconnected alon'oVv one longitudinal edOe thereof 'b a C b D bridge 27. 1n and between the side walls above the lower limbwhich is'guided'overv lthe sheave 29. One of the side walls 26 is severed transversely and bent outwardly to form a stop 29 which, as shown in Fig. 2, abuts against the end of the rod and prevents the sheave carrier from being displaced of thecord to depend therefrom, as shown in Fig; 1.

rlChe pull cord is designated by 30, and adjustably attached to the two limbs thereof, which extend through the rod, are the master curtain suspension slides designated as entiretiesby 31- and 32; These master slides are 'structural duplicates, except as to the feature of a curtain overlapsupport on one of them hereinafter referred to.v

Eescribing the masterslide 31, which appears in horizontal sectionin Fig, 2 andy in perspective view in' Fig. 5, 31 vdesignates a fiat plate, in the upper portion of which are mounted a pair of rollers 32 which are structurally identical` with the rollers: 17 of the follower suspension slides, previously deV- scribed, and ride in the bottom groove of the rear channel'16 of theirod'; theplate '31 having the same loose mounting on.y the spindles of the rollers as above described' in connection with the hanger arms21 of the rollers 17.'. The lower portion'` of theuplate 31'is forwardly offsetv andi formedv with holes 33 for the attachment of theupper edgeof the curtain thereto. 'A- tongue34 is cut and'bent forwardly on an incline from the platef31'l asclearly shown in Fig.y 2, and thistongue is formed with a slot 35for the passage` ofthe cord v30 therethrough; it being understood thatone limb of the-.cord 30xis engaged with the tongue 342 of the slide 31, while the other limb' of the cord is similarly engaged with the tongue 34' of the other slide 32. In'the plate 31 adjacent to the'base of the tongue 34 is a tappedhole, through which is entered a clamp screw 36,fthe free end of'which is adapted to bite the vcord between the inner end of the screwl and the forward end'wall of the slot' 35, whereby the slide-is securely attached to the cord, but may be readily adjusted llengthwise of the latter'byvbacking offthe screw 36,adjustingA the vslide to anew position on the cord,.. and retightening the screw 36; p

FAS above stated, the twomaster slides-31 and 32 are structural,duplicates to the extent above'described; but where an overlapofi the meeting edges of the curtains lis desired,l one of' the'slide plates such as 31.', has attached thereto a forwardly offset arm 37 that projects toward and overlaps theopposite master slide when the curtainslare fully drawn together, and is formed with holes 33` fon attachment to thecurtain.

The spli'ce'12', Whichrisemployed in, aV sec-V tional rod, preferably has the hollow C shaped cross-sectional form illustrated in Fig. 6, and is snugly telescoped within the meeting end portions of the iront channels 15 of the main rod sections 10. By locating this splice in the iront channels of the rod sections, it presents no obstruction to, or interference with, the tree movement ot the suspension slides, and it also provides a stiffer and stronger rod than a single integral rod ot the same length, cooperating with the ribs 11i to provide a very stili and rigid long rod that will support curtains or portires without any sagging or bending.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by locating the sheave carriers and sheaves in t-he ends of the iront channel of the rod, and also the splice 12 (where the latter is employed) in the iront channel, these parts present no interference with or obstruction to the free sliding movement of the curtain suspension slides, enabling the latter to be drawn outwardly to a greater extent than it the sheave carriers, and suspension slides were all located in a single channel. Moreover, since the master slides to which the cord is clamped operate in and through the rear channel 16 of the rod, while the hollow splice 12 is located in the Yfront channel 15, the cord is maintained out of rubbing contact with the splice so that it does not become ehaied and worn by the latter.

By the expression front channel as used herein, I mean the interior portion of the rod lying between the iront wall and the internal ribs, and by the expression rear channel7 l mean the interior portion of the rod lying between said ribs and the longitudinally slotted rear wall.

The curtain suspension slides herein shown and described are not specifically claimed herein, since they form the subject matter of an application tiled simultaneously herewith, Serial No. 454,2ld Also, the sheave carriers and sheaves that are slidably mounted in the ends of the rods and shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8 are not specifically claimed herein, since they form the subject matter of another application tiled concurrently herewith, Serial No. 454,248.

I claim:

1. A hollow sheet metal curtain rod of C-torm in cross section formed with hollow internal ribs on and disposed lengthwise of its top and bot-tom walls respectively.

2. A hollow sheet metal curtain rod comprising duplicate rod sections each ot C-form in cross section formed with internal ribs on and disposed lengthwise of the top and bottom walls thereof respectively, and a splice telescoped within the adjacent portions of said rods between said ribs and an opposite wall of the rod.

3. A hollow sheet metal curtain rod comprising duplicate rod sections each of C-form in cross section formed with internal ribs on and disposed lengthwise of the top and bottom walls thereof respectively, and a hollow splice ot C-i'orm in cross section teleseoped within adjacent portions of said rods between said ribs and the iront wall ot the rod.

el. A hollow sheet metal curtain rod formed with a solid front wall, a longitudinally slotted roar wall, and internal ribs extending lengthwise ot its top and bottom walls forming front and rear longitudinal channels, in combination with curtain hanger slides mounted to travel in said rear channel, cord guide sheaves mounted in the ends of said iront channel, a draw cord extending through said rod and guided over said sheaves, and means i'or connecting said pull cord to the innermost two slides.

5. A hollow sheet metal sectional curtain rod termed with a solid iront wall, a longitudinally slotted rear wall, internal ribs extending lcngthwise oi its top and bottom walls forming iront and rear longitudinal channels, and a hollow splice of C-orin in cross section telescoped within adjacent portions ot the iront channels oi the rod sections, in combination with curtain hanger slides mounted to ltravel in said rear channel, cord guide sheaves mounted in the ends of said trent channel, a draw cord extending through said rod and guided over said sheaves, and means for connecting said pull cord to the innermost two slides.

6. A hollow sheet metal curtain rod comprisinga front wall, top and bottom walls, and a longitudinally slotted rear wall, said bottom wall being formed with a substantially central hollow upstanding longitudinal rib.

JAMES H. BOYE. 

